Key Points from "Do No Harm"

For months "Lost" message boards and spoiler sites have been overrun
with speculation that a major cast member would die. It's gotten to
the point where the simple fact that someone would die couldn't
even be called a spoiler anymore because everyone seemed to already
know. And so the weeks have been filled with questions: Who would it
be? When would it be?

Those questions were finally answered in this episode. But here's the
weird thing: the big revelation wasn't all that big.

And so I'll get to that Who Died stuff in a little while. First, we
need to pay another visit to Dr. Jack's angst-ridden backstory. (And no, Jack isn't the one who died.)

For those keeping score at home, this is the third Jack backstory
episode. In previous editions we've discovered the following:

Jack has major daddy issues.

Jack's daddy is an alcoholic.

Jack's daddy is also quite dead.

Oddly, none of these daddy issues really come into play in this
current backstory segment. Rather, we get a glimpse into
another area of Jack's life: his marriage.

That's right! Dr. Jack, the guy who's been swooning over Kate, was/is
married. In this episode we see Jack in the days before his wedding.
Here's what we discover:

Jack's wife-to-be, Sarah (played by Julie
Bowen from "Ed" and "Happy Gilmore"), was once Jack's patient.
During the rehearsal dinner, Sarah recounts how she was involved in a
wicked SUV accident that snapped her back into wee bits. Everyone said
she was doomed, but Jack promised to "fix" her. And fix her he did --
in more ways than one. Sometime following Sarah's remarkable recovery,
the two started to date.

Sarah has hoodwinked Jack into the always dangerous
writing-your-own-vows trap. Seriously, why do people ever do this? At
best, you'll come off like a Hallmark card. At worst, you'll sound
like the illiterate jackass you truly are. Nonetheless, Jack stupidly
agrees to this vow nonsense, but he quickly discovers that dammit, he's a
doctor, not a writer.

During a drunken, heart-to-heart conversation, a very intoxicated
Jack and his almost-drunk daddy discuss Jack's inability to write his
own vows. (In case you're wondering about the timeline, Jack's wedding
took place before daddy's ill-fated Sydney trip.) Jack is mired in
confusion: If he can't write the vows, does that mean he shouldn't get
married? Moreover, does he love Sarah simply because he saved her?
Would he have asked her to marry him if she hadn't been his patient?
And why does he have these asian symbols tattooed on his shoulder?

Daddy responds with some sort of hoo-ha about commitment being the thing that makes "Jack
tick." Whatever that means. He also tells Jack that Jack's biggest
problem is that he can't "let go." Who is this guy? The cryptic
Dr. Phil? "As your father, I believe you should listen to your heart,
but only listen if you know what it's saying. Now pass me that vodka
and let's go find us some hookers!"

Somehow, daddy's enigmatic messages sink into Jack's psyche. We
know this because the next day Jack steps to the altar and tells Sarah
and the assembled wedding guests that he couldn't write his vows. He
stumbles a bit and tears up, but just as we think it's going to be one
of those "I love you, but I can't be with you" moments, Jack stages a
dramatic late-inning comeback. Looking deep into Sarah's eyes, Jack
tells her that she was all wrong about her accident: He wasn't the one
who fixed her. She was the one who fixed him ...
dramatic pause ... dramatic pause ... and ... KISS. Cue music! Begin
wedded bliss ...

Now, I'm not particularly good with symbolism and weighty story
devices, but I think this wedding sequence was supposed to show
us that Jack had found a balance between his deep sense of commitment
and his inability to "let go." And what did he let go of? Well, I'm
assuming he let go of his doubt and his questioning. Or maybe not.
Hell, for all I know he "let go" of a couple thousand bucks at the
blackjack table the night before and he needed Sarah to pick up the
tab. But anyway, the wedding sequence had an air of revelation -- I'm
just not sure what was revealed or, for that matter, if it really
matters.

Marital Sidenote: Jack and Kate now have something in common: both
have been married. Kate mentioned her short-lived marriage during that
"I
Never" session with Sawyer.

Point 2

Now we come to the Character Who Died. As I previously mentioned, the
Big Death has been rumored for a long time, but here's the thing:
anyone who watched last week's episode already knows who dies.

Stumped? (Probably not, but I'm going to pretend you are.) Answer the
following question and you'll know the dead character:

It's Boone! Boone died! Boone bit it! The guy who got crushed
by a plane in last week's episode is the guy who dies!

See what I mean? It's not much of a payoff. If a character is
splattered under tons of plane wreckage, is it any surprise when that
character dies? No. No it is not.

So now that we've got that out of the way, here's how Boone meets his maker.

When we left off last week, Locke carried a broken and bleeding Boone
back into camp. Locke mumbled something about Boone falling off a
cliff, but he scurried away before Jack could get more details. And so
this week, Jack is left to tend to Boone's significant injuries. These
injuries include:

Now remember, Jack is a highly skilled medical professional who's
stranded on a tropical island. His location doesn't lend itself
to top-notch care because he doesn't have access to medical supplies
-- even basic medical supplies like needles and bandages and whatnot.
So Boone's prognosis isn't good. Nonetheless, Jack bravely marches on
because he promises Boone (during a rare moment when Boone is conscious) that
Boone "will not die."

Uh, Jack? You might want to rethink that promise.

And so the episode plays out like "E.R." in the jungle. Jack barks
orders at Kate and Hurley and Sun and anyone within 30 feet. When
people don't immediately respond, Jack barks louder. Jack also
displays quick thinking -- he inflates Boone's collapsed lung by
punching a whole in Boone's chest cavity. But there are limits to
Jack's medical abilities. Thankfully, Sun is there to swoop in with her extensive
knowledge of alternative medicine and aquatic creatures. For example, when Jack whines about
the dearth of needles, Sun finds a sea urchin equipped with needle-like spines! Amazing!

Jack successfully jury-rigs a blood transfusion (using Jack's blood,
natch), but the blood pools in Boone's mangled right leg. This leads
Jack to conclude two things:

Boone's leg needs to be amputated for him to survive.

Boone's injuries do not correspond with a fall -- they correspond
with someone who's been crushed by a large, heavy object. This means
Locke lied about the cliff accident ... and, more importantly, Jack
knows Locke lied about the cliff accident. File this away.
We'll return to this development later.

Much to Sun's chagrin, Jack moves forward with the amputation plan.
With Michael's help, Jack carries Boone over to a big, ominous piece
of plane wreckage that features a sharp and heavy metal door. The plan
is to lop off Boone's crushed leg French Revolution style. Neither
Michael nor Sun have any interest in watching a leg pop off, so both
walk away. Now it's just Jack and Boone and a big metal door. And
this is exactly when Boone regains consciousness.

Boone sputters to life and sees that Jack is about to take a
path that will undoubtedly lead to a dead end. The operative word is
dead. Boone knows he's a goner, so he tells Jack that the
promise he made earlier in the episode -- that whole Boone "won't die"
thing -- can be forgotten. Jack hears the wisdom behind Boone's words (the first and only time "wisdom" and "Boone" have ever been linked), so he drops to the ground to comfort Boone in his final moments. In a whisper, Boone says: "Tell Shannon ... tell Shannon ...
tell ... I ..."

Now, I'm sure everyone is going to think that Boone was trying to say
"Tell Shannon I love her." See, that's what they want you to think.
But I don't buy it. I believe he meant to say "Tell Shannon I think
she sucks in bed." Or maybe "Tell Shannon I found out we're
biologically related."

So that's that with Boone. To honor his memory, I offer the following
Hurley-inspired eulogy:

"Whoa. Dude. Well. Boone was a good guy who had a freaky relationship
with his sister. He was trustworthy, loyal, and, um, really good at
wedding stuff. He died real crappy. And oh yeah, he was once a
lifeguard. Uh ... Amen, Dude."

Point 3

This week's episode had two themes. The first was that
Jack-commitment-letting go thing (which I still don't understand) and
the second was a theme that's occasionally used in dramatic stories of
life and death. I believe it's called: the Circle of Life. Perhaps
you've heard of it?

The "Lost" producers went nutty with the Circle of Life this week. How
so? Well, every one of Boone's dying sequences was contrasted by one
of Claire's birthing sequences. You read that correctly. Claire
finally popped that little bugger out.

The birth was relatively uneventful. Claire started having
contractions early in the episode, which causes her to freak out and
hide in the woods. Kate stumbles upon Claire and realizes what's
happening, but Kate faces a dilemma because she's supposed to be
helping Jack with Boone. So Kate screams for help, which brings Jin
rushing in from the beach. Kate tells Jin to find Jack and tell him
that Claire is having the baby. Somehow, Jin sorta kinda gets the
message and runs off to the cave camps. But there's a problem -- and
that problem goes by the name of Boone. If Jack leaves Boone to
deliver the baby, Boone will die.

So long story short, Jack pairs Jin with Charlie and he outlines very
specific delivery instructions. These instructions, Jack says, are
intended for Kate. She's the one who needs to deliver the baby.
It's unclear why Jack is so adamant about Kate's involvement.

With Jack's baby-delivering instructions burned into their brains, Jin
and Charlie rush back to Claire's jungle delivery room. Kate is
apprehensive about delivering the baby, but Claire's labor screams rip
through Kate's reluctance.

As the episode progresses, Claire is overwhelmed by fear. She tells
Kate she's worried that Evil Ethan may have done something to her
baby. She's also scared that her unborn child will know that she
wanted to give it up for adoption. Kate comforts Claire by telling her
that the present is all that really matters. She also says something
kind of wacky: "This baby is all of ours." Sure, Kate. Whatever.

Heh heh. Just kidding. The baby's name is unknown. At this point all we know about the kid is that
it's a boy and that he's healthy (Jack proclaims him so at the end of the episode).

In the closing moments of the show, Claire is greeted at the
beach by all of the castaways (including those random people we rarely
see) and everyone fawns over the new baby. It's happy, happy, joy, joy
for all involved.

Well, almost everyone ...

Point 4

Sayid and Shannon are missing in action for most of this episode
because Sayid leads his lady love to a deserted slice of island for a
romantic rendezvous. Smoothie Sayid has laid out quite a spread:
torches burning as the sun goes down, a comfortable blanket,
fresh fruit, a book of erotic poetry with a special emphasis on
forbidden sibling love ... oh yes, it's all quite wonderful.

And so Sayid and Shannon spend the night together, but they don't go
all the way (or so we're led to believe). At one point the two appear
to be getting hot and heavy, but Shannon takes a pause for the cause.
She tells Sayid that she and Boone aren't actually brother and sister.
She also says Boone is in love with her. Sayid asks if Shannon feels
the same way about Boone. Shannon claims she'll always feel something
for Boone, but she vehemently denies having any of "those" feelings
for her step-brother. Nonetheless, because Boone is on the island, she
wants to take things slow with Sayid. This is fine with Sayid because
he knows "Lost"
was picked up for a second season, so it's only a matter of time
before Shannon lets down her defenses.

Now, keep in mind that Boone is dying as she's saying all this.
And that brings us to the next part ...

Remember that whole Circle of Life juxtaposition? Well, it comes full
circle (so to speak) during the closing scene on the beach. As Claire
shows off her new child, Sayid and Shannon stroll happily down the
beach, hand-in-hand. Jack sees them and breaks off from the crowd. As
he approaches, the music swells and Jack gets a pained expression. The
dialogue isn't heard, but the effect of Jack's message is clear:
Shannon takes a few steps back, stunned by news that Boone is dead.
The Circle of Life strikes again!

Point 5

Locke is not seen in this episode, but in the very last scene Jack
hints at things to come. Here's how it plays out:

Jack sits alone on the beach, putting water and other items into a
backpack. Kate comes and sits next to him.

Kate: "Want to talk about it?"

Jack: "Talk about what?"

Kate: "Boone died, Jack."

Jack: "He didn't die ... He was murdered." [Jack rises and throws on
his backpack]

Kate: "What? Jack ... Where are you going?"

Jack: "To find John Locke."

Uh. Oh.

Point 6

I usually avoid discussing the previews for upcoming episodes, but
this week's preview was churning with intrigue. It's also the only new
footage we're going to get for a while because repeats are scheduled
for the next two weeks.

So here are a few high points from the preview:

Jack jumps at Locke and tackles him to the ground.

Michael and Jin put the finishing touches on the escape raft.

Sawyer grabs Kate and tells her she's not getting his place on the raft.

Jack discovers that someone stole the key to the metal gun case.

The castaways hold a funeral (presumably for Boone, but who knows?).

Sayid grabs Locke by the throat, points a gun at him and says "no
more lies."

A separate scene appears to show Locke being shot in the chest.

Make of it what you will. Just remember, previews are meant to
tease, not reveal.

That's it for now. Be sure to drop by our "Lost" Forum for stimulating conversation
and conjecture.